Ponant Explorations Group has released its 2024 Sustainability Report, highlighting milestones achieved over the past year and reaffirming its long-term commitment to responsible travel.

The report reflects the company’s efforts under its Blue Horizon strategy to build a more sustainable future for expedition travel.

“Our 2024 Sustainability Report provides a clear picture of the progress we have made as well as the road ahead,” said Wassim Daoud, the group’s head of CSR and sustainability.

“We are continuing on our path towards decarbonization and are taking concrete steps to reduce our environmental impact, support scientific research and help local communities,” added Daoud.

The company said that in 2024, CO2 emissions per cruise day were 14 percent lower than in the reference year 2018, which is almost half of the target to reduce them by 30 percent by 2030.

This reduction is the result of several improvements made in recent years in terms of fleet energy efficiency and the use of alternative energies.

To achieve its goal of reaching Net Zero by 2050, Ponant added that it has embarked on a program of innovation in naval design and propulsion.

Co-funded by the European Union’s Innovation Fund (Emissions Trading System), Swap2Zero is an R&D initiative that integrates six decarbonization technologies. This first transoceanic vessel is designed to operate with zero CO₂ eq¹ emissions.

Ponant added that among the actions undertaken in recent years, the elimination of single-use plastics is now 100 percent operational, with 20 tons of plastic waste avoided in one year.

This action is in tandem with the widespread use of onboard systems for producing drinking water from seawater. The group is also committed to reducing and treating all waste, 100 percent of which is now sorted on board.

According to the press release, collaborative work is being carried out with stakeholders at each port of call to achieve the target of recovering 50 percent of waste by 2026.

The full report is available here.